Iran Enhances Trade Ties With Neighboring States

Tehran, Sept 13, IRNA - ˈIran Dailyˈ on Saturday reflecting on Iranˈs economic ties with neighboring countries, noted that the country has enhanced trade cooperation with its neighbors concurrent with deepening political relations. Iran has always maintained close economic ties with its neighbors. However, a review of trade ties with neighboring countries show such ties were hampered during certain periods; for instance when former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was in power or when Afghanistan was plagued with growing violence and tension. Today, the tilt has changed in the trade balance in Iran's favor with the country signing a memoranda of understanding with Russia in various economic fields, expanded trade with Afghanistan after the war-torn country became somewhat stable and boosted business ties with Persian Gulf Arab states that experienced impressive economic growth in the past few years, noted the paper in its Opinion column in the Domestic Economy page. Currently, some old trade partners like Turkey, Pakistan and the UAE are mulling over increasing trade with Iran. Some countries, which have not been Iran’s trade partners, now seek to establish economic ties with the Islamic Republic. It is crucial for Iran to reinforce and enhance such relations by adopting political and economic measures. Politically and economically speaking, Iran should optimize ties with its 15 neighbors and establish trade ties with non-neighboring countries, suggested the daily. This is the course followed by countries successful in boosting international trade. Certainly, this policy can help Iran further enhance non-oil export and eventually make the country’s economy independent of oil revenues, which have been badly reduced after the US and its European allies tightened sanctions. To achieve this goal, manufacturers should improve the quality of products and monitoring bodies such as the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran, and Chamber of Commerce should conduct stringent inspections to ensure quality is not compromised, it said. Exporting shoddy and spurious goods can harm Iran’s share of the regional market. This is while holding trade fairs or participating in such expos in other countries can help manufacturers directly introduce their products to customers, concluded the daily. *Jamshid Edalatian, writer of the article, is a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce./end